This is an absolutely perfect blog post – the flowers are so vibrant and colourful, and the mossy details are fab. I adore the fireplace, so full of colour – and the portraits of beautiful bride Hannah & her new husband Matt outside Woodhall Spa Manor are wonderful.

Our flowers were multi coloured and summery – truly breath taking – they were by Flowers by Suzanne. I added a few personal touches of my own creation, including a timeline of the day on an old mirror painted with chalk paint (borrowed from my cousin’s wedding) and a fingerprint tree guest book I made from an online template. I absolutely loved putting these few things together; luckily I am a teacher so had a few weeks before the wedding in the holidays to do all of this.

Wedding photographer’s website:

How did you choose your photographer?

We went to the ‘Fairytale Wedding Festival’ at Ayscoughfee Hall in Spalding (where I grew up) and were blown away by Heather’s natural light shots.

Were you pleased with your wedding photographer? Do tell… we love a brilliant review!

So very pleased… see below for my review of Heather
No words will be able to express how deeply grateful my husband and I are for Heather’s work during our wedding day and the build up to it. Her professionalism was evident from day one when we received confirmation of our booking on gorgeous quality paper within days of meeting her! Absolutely everything Heather does is done so with an absolute love for her job and with the greatest attention to detail. I felt completely at ease with her around during the day itself and, along with Sarah, they managed to capture some truly beautiful and unique photographs of us and our family.
I can honestly not recommend her highly enough, although I don’t really need to say that as the images speak for themselves!

Tell us about the moment you saw your wedding photos for the first time?

It took me straight back to the day; a flood of emotions, mainly pure joy, came over me and I also shed a tear!
My brother has just moved overseas and it is probably the last big event my Grandpa will be able to attend, so it was a poignant day for us all and the photos really allowed us to relive that wonderful feeling of togetherness.

Wedding venue:

Woodall Spa Manor, Woodall Spa

Wedding month:

August

Can you describe your wedding in fewer than 10 words?

A relaxed garden party filled with happiness and flowers!

Your wedding style or theme:

Relaxed, summer, floral garden party, afternoon tea

Where did you find your suppliers? (Blogs, magazines, recommendations?)

Flowers by Suzanne – Word of mouth (as they are the best in Lincoln!)
Caterers – google
Goodies – Matt’s favourite sweet shop
Photographer, magician and garden games – Asycoughfee wedding festival
The rest were through investigation on google!

What’s your top tip for saving money?

Prioritise the big spends; I wanted to ensure the flowers and venue were amazing so I made sure we had a large section of the budget for these.
As the day approaches you will probably find you want lots of little things to make the day. Try and borrow as much as possible from friends, and be creative! My mum and I spent a day together making the orders of service from a free template on the internet (as we were running short on cash). This was actually one of my favourite memories of the build up to the wedding and I felt proud to have made some of the components of my special day!

… and which elements of your wedding are you glad you spent more on?

Flowers were absolutely essential for me; we had the most amazing florist (Flowers by Suzanne) who worked with my brief to create the perfect bouquet.
Also, the men’s tie were made by CatkinJane out of Liberty fabric; we didn’t hire suits so I wanted to make sure the men had a perfect touch to their outfits.

Where did you buy or source your wedding stationery – or was making it a labour of love?

The invitations were beautifully designed and made by ‘talk of the town parties’. As flowers were the focus of our wedding we got special paper which was embedded with wild flower seeds for the guests to plant!

Did you fall in love with your wedding dress?

Yes, and no! I tried it on in a size which didn’t fit at all so I had to be imaginative. The dress then took 6 months to be delivered in the correct size, and 4 further alterations. Having said that, as soon as I saw it fit properly I couldn’t stop smiling! The staff at Young Romantics are so talented it fitted absolutely perfectly on the day and I felt completely comfortable all day.

Wedding dress designer and bridal boutique:

Ronald Joyce, Young Romantics Wisbech

Tell us about your accessories: jewellery, shoes and anything else!

Jewellery was quite a bargain from ‘not-on-the-high-street’; a simple pearl bracelet and earrings.
I also wore my late grandma’s sapphire engagement ring which was my blue, borrowed and old.
The shoes were Rainbow cub; built for comfort and I couldn’t fault them – I also had a sixpence from the year mum and dad were born, courtesy of my grandpa.

And what did the groom wear?

Ted Baker 3 piece suit with Liberty fabric tie.

Beautiful bridesmaids: what did your best girls wear?

Floor length gowns from ASOS bridesmaid range! These were a bargain and looked amazing on my beautiful bridesmaids.

Hair and make-up – did you DIY or hire a professional?

Andrea and Kirsty from Liberty Hair and Beauty did make-up and hair respectively. They were absolutely brilliant, coming out to the venue and creating the perfect look for me and my bridesmaids. I wanted a natural look that would last all day, which Andrea worked her magic to create! Kirsty did an ‘up do’ with flowers from a very vague brief from me; the final look was beyond what i could have imagined.

General styling – did your venue need much decoration?

The venue, Woodhall Spa Manor, has been recently restored and was effortlessly beautiful. The main decoration was the flowers!

The wedding cake: what kind of cake did you choose and why?

A cake made out of cheese! We had afternoon tea as our wedding breakfast so didn’t feel the need for more sweet things… so we opted for an additional course in the form of cheese. It went down a treat!

Entertainment: any musical recommendations, surprises or treats?

DJ – Ashley Murohy from ALS (also a work colleague and friend!)
We had an extremely talented harpist doing music whilst the guests were mingling and during the service – she did original compositions of our favourite songs for us; it helped create a magical service.

Words of wisdom: share your best piece of advice for other couples:

Don’t feel pressured into doing things you feel you should do – we felt blessed with the day we managed to create as it was exactly what we wanted it to be.
We also wanted the service to be the centre of the day, as we felt at other weddings this is usually the bit people feel you just have to get through! Having this at the venue and writing our own vows meant the service was very personal, relaxed and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house!

Claire Gould

Claire spends her days writing - either in beautiful calligraphy or online. She lives on the edge of the English Lake District only minutes away from the beach, where she loves to escape and unwind. Claire's calligraphy can be found at www.byMoonandTide.com. Claire launched the English Wedding Blog in November 2009 - it's been a top 10 UK wedding blog ever since, with a regional focus we hope you LOVE.

May 25th, 2020

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The English Wedding Blog is all about creativity: my dream is to curate an online space for couples to get inspired by real weddings, shoots and the latest in wedding design - with a real focus on English and UK weddings and suppliers.

I'm also known for writing calligraphy - for my work with Kirstie Allsopp and because I've worked with hundreds of brides and grooms. Beautiful writing is my passion and I'm happiest with a pen in my hand and ink on my face!

I live on the edge of the English Lake District, a couple of minutes from the seaside. I've lived in France and Italy, I ride a Vespa, I'm a cat person and I love dirty guitar bands, walking in the mountains, and my beach.